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Apples support is really bad.

.This is not normally my rant. For the most part I deal with Compaq/HP Cisco etc. through their business support groups. I most often feel these companies do a fair job of support, so I usually stay away from the ?X companies support sucks? discussions. So, when I say Apple?s sucks?

I purchased an iPod for my wife in January for her birthday. She was excited about it, and had wanted one for sometime, so when we got it, and it didn?t quite work as we expected, she was a little disappointed. I figured that its not that big a deal, I would get on Apples site, and talk to a tech on-line, see if it was something we were doing wrong. I created an account on the site (there forms are bad. More on that later). Tried to login with the new ID/Password. ?User not found?. Thirty minutes later, ?User not found?. Should I add that when I created the account the page said ?thanks for creating your account, you may login immediately?

OK, so the first line of support was bad, go on to the next. While I was waiting for the account to go active, I browsed the forums. They were chockablock full of? well... Apple users. No insult intended to any MAC users out there, but most of the users seemed little help to others.

Back to the login, ?User not found?

Well, I don?t mind calling. Finding the AppleCare phone number was simple enough if not a little hidden. Calling into a poor IVR, waiting 15 minuets I get someone in the iPod division that cant seem to answer any questions regarding how their own product is to work normally, making my questions very difficult as I don?t know otherwise I would not have called. He gets a bit intimidated by the pesky user asking questions about the product he supports, and transfers me to someone somewhere that will send out a new iPod. OK, I say, I don?t know that this one is really broken, but that seems like a fix anyway. The new phone rep takes my general info, phone address etc.

I would like to say that the new iPod arrived in the five business days that was promised, but it didn?t. I live at 557 Walnut Ave. The iPod was delivered to 5571 Walnut. Not the worst mistake. I call in to Apple, and go through the bad IVR, wait 20 minuets, get someone to hear my cries, and DHL can now deliver to the correct address.

Today DHL arrived with a new iPod. End of this dam story yet? Not yet. The new one acts just like the last one. I called in, bad IVR, 20 minuets to get a phone support rep, and the guy CANT TELL me how HIS companies product should work! DAM!

I said I would get back to the bad forms. Well you all will be happy to know, my login worked today. I got through on the first try. Filled in another form to check on the status of the repair. The new form wont let me continue because thinks I haven?t completed something. I filled all items!

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THat's just ONE reason I skipped i-Pod

Sound quality, battery life were the main issues not too mention a mechanical harddrive. Who wants an MP3 player that skips? They are not too durable either a slight jolt can render the hard drive useless, and it isn't covered for most issues like that.

i-Pods are trendy but hardly the better MP3 player for sound or quality. i-Tunes is popular, university students MUST hve one but tha's about the extent of it. As an MP3 player they are pretty weak.I'll stick with FLASH players for the time being, when i-Pods are less than a hundred bucks and actually have a decent warranty and support I MAY recosider, just for the addons I can use in the camper.

Sorry to hear your ordeal, but rest assured SO MANY others are in for the same thing. Perhaps a loss in sales may even nudge them to improve a bit.

Well, the wife wanted it.

.So she gets it. Apple has alwas marketed better than the next, and this is no exception.

Truth, I like the thing too. Simple buttons, clean look etc. Not a bad product at all. Its the support Im just not happy with right now.

Battery memory is not a real concern. I don't expect the life of the device to be much more that 18-24 months. As much as I hate expendable crap, you figure that new mp3 players will come around (lossless, flack etc.) and will need to be replaced. A portable CD players life is about that, and the technology is static.

True they are kinda cool

I am really demanding when it comes to music though, I also bought the features that specifically suited my needs for various different reasons. And price was a factor, i-Pods are pricey in Canada thus making them a far lower value for money.But when the wife speaks, we must act.

I was even considering a portable CD player again, I had one before that died after abuse. But I didn't want the burden of CD's and the cumbersome player that skips.

I also don't like the fiddly little knobs that many MP3 players come with, the i-Pod did do a nice job of theirs, I have to give them some credit, it looks and feels cool.

I ended up getring one with a touchpad instead, even though bigger than most lipstick style players (it'll probably die in the near future, but it's warrantied so I don't care).

THere's a couple of issues I see with the battery

I does not last very long, sure you get 4000+ songs on the hard drive but you can only listen to 40 of them at a time. DOH! But as with ANY rechargeable battery, it will lose it's ability to hold a full charge and will become shorter and shorter, generally after 8 months to a year.

THEN you need to replace it, with another expensive i-Pod proprietary rechargeable battery.

As for features, i-Pod doesn't stack up at all without the add-on bells and whistles.

I went with Samsung YEPP 780 http://tinyurl.com/4v5zp (sorry not available in the US), holds 55-60 tunes (256 MB) and batteries (2 X AAA) last 15- 20 hours.

A good set of NihM rechagreables with charger costs $45.00 and gives you 4 batteries so you have constant rotation, approx. 1000 charges or about 1 1/2 years you need to invest another $15-$20 for new ones. SO with 4 batteries you are good for a couple of years at a low cost.

I find it has better sound and MUCH better bass response (WOW and SRS) volume than others.

I did look at a lot of them, i-Pod was the biggest draw because it was popular and trendy, but it just didn't stack up.

Warranty? Future Shop (Canada's Best Buy) 'over the counter' 2 year exchange is $20.00. Done deal. NO repairs, no call centers, no emails, just "here I need a new one" and if it is discontinued it is replaced with a newer model of the same value.

If you really want user support

go to your local Best Buy pretending to be in the market, yada-yada, "oooh, that's a cool feature, how does that work?" Of course, the wife must do this herself, as you've already put in your time on this project.

I plan to buy Creative Zen very soon, btw, just because of more storage for slightly lower cost, and no lack of features. Opinion worth 2 cents, but for you it's free!

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